The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity A~ "Good News" ~ Susan McGurgan~ D.Min.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.

This passage is such Good News, that we might say, the whole of our faith is captured in that one solitary verse.  

It is truly Good News!  

But sometimes, the concrete reality of that Good News can seem mighty distant. Despite the overwhelming Good News that waits for us in God’s Word, in the Eucharist, in our community, in creation, we often find ourselves anxiously sitting on the edge, just waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Perhaps it’s because we never have far to go to trip over bad news.  We rarely need to be convinced that there is some really bad stuff out there, lurking--waiting for us, like unexploded ordinance or a hidden landmine.  As a famous British historian once said, “Some historians hold that our history is just one (expletive deleted) thing after another."  Some days, that “one thing after another” -- that bad news -- comes at us so relentlessly that we become numb.  A neighbor’s challenging diagnosis, your son’s addiction, a cousin’s divorce after 30 years of marriage, a war you don’t understand, an economy you cannot control, political divisiveness you can’t stomach--these are forces that feel chaotic and dark.  

But into this messy and muddled world, God speaks a word of love and salvation to all of creation. “For God so loved the world.”   Even when the world overflows with bad news, bad players, bad intentions, bad consequences, bad mojo-- God continues to speak a word of love. Jesus still dwells among us. The Holy Spirit still moves actively through our lives.

And that friends, is Good News.

We should never minimize the very real suffering and pain of human life or present a simplistic view of discipleship. We can never shy away from a difficult message, for in truth, we are never very far from the cross. But John 3:16 reminds us that above all, we are loved. It reminds us that even as his family mourned, Jesus called Lazarus to come out of the tomb and cast aside the burial garments. It reminds us that even as Jesus was dying, he placed his mother into relationship with the Beloved Disciple.  It reminds us that no matter what bad news we experience, the Good News present from the dawn of time will always be stronger, deeper, and more abundant. That Good News is waiting for us, wherever we are; whoever we are.

For God so loved the world. 

This is such a fitting scripture passage for Trinity Sunday, which is a feast of relationship and love.  At God’s heart; at the very core of God’s being, dwells a love so alive, so generative, so urgent--it overflows into relationship. The doctrine of the Trinity speaks the truth of God’s own nature.  We are created by the Father, who generates, we are redeemed by the Son, who is begotten, we are enlivened by the Spirit, who proceeds. All of creation--every plant, creature, rock, and lichen is imprinted with this truth.

Now, Jesus never defined the Trinity for us.

He didn't spell everything out in theological Cliff Notes or an illustrated Trinity 101. He didn’t leave us a detailed road map where X marks the spot of enlightenment. Jesus just didn’t teach that way.

But he left us an example to follow. His life is the compass.

In a forgotten corner of the world that was so often filled with Bad News, Jesus gathered a rag tag group of men and women into community. He taught them how to wash each other’s feet and asked them to break bread together. He told them to welcome the stranger, forgive the sinner, and go out to the crossroads to bind up the wounded. He left them with the paradox of the cross and the empty tomb.

And perhaps most astonishing of all, He left them each other.

The Solemnity we celebrate today teaches something important and powerful about God’s nature. But it also teaches us something equally important about ourselves. This feast reminds us that we are created in the image of a God who is love, who dwells in relationship; who IS Good News.

If that is God’s nature, then it must be ours as well.

If God’s love overflows, generating new life in a world that sometimes appears dark, then our love must overflow, too. If God's nature is relationship, then that is our legacy and our call.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.